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Choice of Singhvi surprises Rajasthan Congressmen

Special Correspondent

Nominated for the lone winnable Rajya Sabha seat for the party

Abishek Manu Singhvi

JAIPUR: The nomination of Abishek Manu Singhvi by the Congress high command for the lone winnable Rajya Sabha seat for the party in the coming elections from Rajasthan has surprised Congressmen here. Mr. Singhvi, who originally hails from western Rajasthan, had been a dark horse right up to the last minute.

The choice of Mr. Singhvi, the party spokesperson in New Delhi, has come as a surprise here, more because of the fact that all three seats getting vacant this time in the State belonged to the Congress and each member represented one particular group. Among the retiring MPs, Moolchand Meena belongs to the Scheduled Tribe, Jamuna Barupal to the Scheduled Castes and R.P.Goenka, to the group of industrialists who have been supportive to the party.

Various caste groups and communities within the Congress in Rajasthan have been clamouring all these days to impress the high command on the need to nominate a person from their ranks. The choice became difficult as the party can win one seat only going by its strength of 55 MLAs in the 200-member House.

Apart from the representatives of the communities of the outgoing MPs, Muslim groups also joined the race with the argument that the community has had no representation from Rajasthan in Parliament even since the retirement of Imamudhin Ahmed (Duru Mian) some time back and the demise of Abrar Ahmed in a road accident in 2004.

Those who felt strongly against the nomination of a person from outside the State also gave the argument that the representation of Rajasthan had declined after the resignation of Natwar Singh as External Affairs Minister in the wake of the Volcker controversy and the exit of Buta Singh as Bihar Governor after adverse remarks from the court against him.

The choice of a nominee became all the more difficult for the Congress with the Bharatiya Janata Party selecting a Dalit— Krishna Kumar Valmiki— along with the former national treasurer of the party, Ramdas Agarwal, for the two seats it can win in the current round.

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